Accounting & Bookkeeping

Most SaaS founders run on Stripe + a spreadsheet until they outgrow it; this page is what to graduate to. For tax filing see Tax & Compliance. Personal finance (Actual Budget, Firefly III) lives in Self-Hosted Personal Apps. For the all-in-one approach see ERP Systems.

Open source / self-host (SMB accounting)

• ★ Akaunting — modern, multi-currency, double-entry; free self-host core, paid app marketplace for advanced modules (payroll, expense, etc.). The default OSS accounting pick for small businesses.
• ★ Invoice Ninja — strongest OSS for invoicing-first workflows: quotes, recurring invoices, online payments, client portal. Free self-host (Elastic License v2); generous hosted free tier.
• Crater — clean, simple invoicing + expenses; AGPL; less mature than Invoice Ninja but lighter.
• Bigcapital — newer modern double-entry accounting; AGPL; gaining momentum in 2025–26.
• Manager — desktop app; free for desktop use forever, paid for cloud / server. Strong double-entry; popular with bookkeepers.
• GnuCash — venerable desktop; double-entry; clunky but solid; GPLv2.
• Bigcapital, HomeBank — alternatives in this niche.

Inside an ERP

• ★ ERPNext Accounting — full double-entry inside ERPNext; the strongest OSS accounting if you're already running it.
• Odoo Accounting — strong; the core module is free in Community; bank reconciliation / advanced features sit in Enterprise.
• Dolibarr Accounting — passable; better suited to European VAT contexts.

Hosted SaaS (small-business friendly)

• ★ Wave — genuinely free invoicing + accounting for SMBs in US/Canada (paid add-ons for payroll / payments). The "free QuickBooks alternative" most accountants will work with.
• Zoho Books — free tier under $50k revenue; full-featured; integrates with the rest of Zoho One.
• FreshBooks — paid (no free tier, free trial only); great for service businesses.
• QuickBooks Online — incumbent in the US; expensive; every accountant knows it.
• Xero — incumbent in UK / AU / NZ; paid.
• Pennylane (FR), Holded (ES), sevDesk / Lexware (DE) — regional incumbents with free trials.

Modern startup / SaaS-flavored

• ★ Puzzle — modern startup accounting; free tier; QuickBooks competitor built around Stripe / Mercury / Brex feeds.
• Pilot — bookkeeping-as-a-service; paid.
• Bench — bookkeeping-as-a-service; paid (note: had a wind-down + acquisition in 2024–25).
• Digits — AI-flavored modern accounting; paid.

Invoicing-only / receipts

• ★ Invoice Ninja — see above; the best OSS pick.
• Stripe Invoicing — fine for B2B SaaS; bundled with Stripe.
• Quaderno, Sufio, Bookipi, Invoiced — see Tax & Compliance for compliant-invoice tooling.
• DIY with PDF generation — fine until your accountant complains.

Bank feed / aggregation (US-centric)

• Plaid — paid; the incumbent.
• Teller, Finicity (Mastercard), MX — alternatives.
• GoCardless Bank Account Data (formerly Nordigen) — free for EU bank feeds (PSD2-based).

Pick this if…

• Default OSS small business: Akaunting (or ERPNext if you'll grow into it).
• Invoicing-first OSS: Invoice Ninja.
• Free SaaS, US/Canada SMB: Wave.
• Modern startup, Stripe-native: Puzzle.
• Have an accountant on QuickBooks already: stay on QuickBooks; the integration tax of switching is rarely worth it.
• EU / UK SMB: Xero or a regional incumbent (Pennylane / Holded / sevDesk).